UPDATE 1-CEO of Caribbean telecoms firm Digicel dies suddenly

DUBLIN, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Caribbean telecommunications company Digicel on Friday announced that its chief executive Alex Matuschka von Greiffenclau, 47, had died suddenly while on holiday.

The company’s chairman and billionaire owner Denis O’Brien said in a message to staff he would take over as interim CEO.

“It is with a heavy heart and much sadness that I share news of the untimely death of our Group CEO, Alex Matuschka von Greiffenclau,” O’Brien said in a statement.

“Alex died suddenly yesterday whilst on holiday with his family in Germany,” he said.

Von Greiffenclau took up his position in February this year and was a key player in negotiating a debt refinancing with bondholders, which concluded last week.

Under the terms of the deal, the majority of holders of around $3 billion in bonds due in 2020 and 2022 agreed to swap them for bonds with longer-dated maturities.

Digicel, which was founded in 2001 in Jamaica by O’Brien, provides wireless services to around 14 million subscribers in 31 markets in the Caribbean and South Pacific regions. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)